IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT CENTER FOR PANGAEA HEALTH AND WELLNESS, LLC., ET AL. (NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-2204-18T4/A-2219-18T4/A-2276-18T4/A-2278-18T4/A-2283-18T4/A-2288-18T4/A-2292-18T4/A-2305-18T4)

 IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT CENTER FOR PANGAEA HEALTH AND WELLNESS, LLC., ET AL. (NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-2204-18T4/A-2219-18T4/A-2276-18T4/A-2278-18T4/A-2283-18T4/A-2288-18T4/A-2292-18T4/A-2305-18T4)

In these eight appeals, appellants argued that the Department of Health made numerous errors in its selection of entities to operate Alternative Treatment Centers to grow, process, and dispense marijuana as part of the State's Medicinal Marijuana Program. They complained about, among other things, the Department's selection process, including the criteria used, the manner in which applications were scored, and the overall sufficiency and explanation of the final agency decisions; they specifically contended that the Department should at least have engaged in an interim process by which disappointed applicants could question or challenge the scores received prior to the issuance of final agency decisions that left it to the court to act as a clearing house for all such challenges. In agreeing the scoring system produced arbitrary results that have gone unexplained, the court vacated the final agency decisions and remanded for further proceedings.

RONALD RAFANELLO VS. JORGE S. TAYLOR- ESQUIVEL, ET AL. (L-3488-15 AND L-1721-17, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-4397-18T2)

 RONALD RAFANELLO VS. JORGE S. TAYLOR- ESQUIVEL, ET AL. (L-3488-15 AND L-1721-17, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-4397-18T2)

In this multi-vehicle accident case involving a dump truck, the court concludes that New Jersey law requires a commercial motor carrier to provide a minimum insurance coverage amount of $750,000 when engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce, as prescribed by N.J.S.A. 39:5B-32 and N.J.A.C. 13:60-2.1. Here, the individual driving the dump truck was an employee of defendant trucking company and responsible for the accident but was not listed as a covered driver on the policy. However, he was a permissive user and therefore, the commercial insurance policy issued to the trucking company required a minimum coverage amount of $750,000 and the step-down provision in the insured's combined single limit policy is not triggered. The trial court's order granting summary judgment and capping the tortfeasor's exposure at $35,000 is reversed.

B.B. VS. S. BRADLEY MELL, ET AL. (L-7200-19, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-3450-19T1/A-3452-19T1)

 B.B. VS. S. BRADLEY MELL, ET AL. (L-7200-19, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-3450-19T1/A-3452-19T1)

Defendant Mell, a wealthy businessman, engaged in sexual relations with B.B. over a period of months when she was fifteen years old. Upon discovery, Mell was arrested and soon convicted of federal and state crimes; he is presently incarcerated in a federal penitentiary. B.B. commenced this action for damages against Mell and others and obtained an order attaching some of Mell's assets. Soon after, Mell sought an order permitting the payment of his attorneys in this civil action from the attached funds; the judge granted that motion and later entered another order fixing the amount of fees to be paid from the fund. The court granted B.B.'s motions for leave to appeal those two orders and reversed, holding that B.B. had a greater priority to the fund even though she has yet to obtain a judgment and that the equities preclude such an invasion of the fund, noting it would be perverse to allow Mell's expenses to be paid from the fund established through valid court procedures for the benefit of his victim.

VICTORIA CRISITELLO VS. ST. THERESA SCHOOL (L-3642-14, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-4713-18T3)

 VICTORIA CRISITELLO VS. ST. THERESA SCHOOL (L-3642-14, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-4713-18T3)

In this action brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49, the court was asked to determine whether a parochial school's knowledge of the pregnancy of an unmarried lay teacher, who started as a teacher's aide for toddlers, later taught art, and had no responsibility for religious instruction, can serve as the nondiscriminatory basis for the teacher's termination for violating the school's morals code, where the school never made any effort to determine whether any of its other employees have violated the school's prohibition against "immoral conduct" that is allegedly incorporated into each employees' terms of employment. The court held that knowledge or mere observation of an employee's pregnancy alone is not a permissible basis to detect violations of the school's policy and terminate an employee.

JOHN C. SULLIVAN, ET AL. VS. MAX SPANN REAL ESTATE & AUCTION CO., ET AL. (L-1036-17, SOMERSET COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-5327-18T1)

 JOHN C. SULLIVAN, ET AL. VS. MAX SPANN REAL ESTATE & AUCTION CO., ET AL. (L-1036-17, SOMERSET COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-5327-18T1)

The court determined that real estate auction sales contracts prepared by attorneys, licensed real estate brokers, or salespersons need not contain the three-day attorney review clause mandated by N.J. State Bar Ass'n v. N.J. Ass'n of Realtor Boards, 93 N.J. 470 (1983), as codified in N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.2(g). Here, a blank, pre-printed contract was sent to the highest bidder, defendant, and recommended an attorney review the contract. The court rejected defendant's claim that she was entitled to a return of her $121,000 deposit monies after not being able to secure financing in this cash deal. The liquidated damages provision in the sales contract was validated, and the $121,000 deposit monies, plus interest, were equally divided between plaintiffs/sellers and co-defendant.

S.H., ET AL. VS. K&H TRANSPORT, INC., ET AL. (L-2169-16, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-0413-18T4)

 S.H., ET AL. VS. K&H TRANSPORT, INC., ET AL. (L-2169-16, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-0413-18T4)

The court reverses summary judgment to defendants Orange Board of Education, Sussex County Regional Transportation Cooperative and K&H Transport Inc., the bus company responsible for transporting a seventeen-year-old special needs student to and from an out-of-district, State-approved school for students with disabilities. The trial judge determined the bus company owed no duty to plaintiffs "to protect against the alleged injury" — sexual assault — and that no reasonable person could find the bus company's actions caused plaintiff's injury. The court finds that whether the minor-plaintiff's sexual assault, by young men she encountered after being dropped off unsupervised blocks from the designated bus stop outside her home, was a foreseeable risk of injury to her was impacted by the extent of the minor's disability, and that the trial court erred in resolving that question on disputed facts.

IN THE MATTER OF THE EXPUNGEMENT OF THE INVOLUNTARY CIVIL COMMITMENT RECORD OF M.D.V. (L-3447-19, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-0663-19T2)

 IN THE MATTER OF THE EXPUNGEMENT OF THE INVOLUNTARY CIVIL COMMITMENT RECORD OF M.D.V. (L-3447-19, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-0663-19T2)

The process for the expungement of a voluntary or involuntary commitment can be found in N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.8 to -80.11. The statutory scheme does not prohibit additional applications if a first petition is unsuccessful. The relevant language in the statute requires a petitioner seeking expungement to present his or her personal history since the hospitalization, as well as his or her present circumstances, and reputation in the community. N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.8; N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.9. Therefore, the court concludes the dismissal of a petition entered after an evidentiary hearing should be designated as "without prejudice."

IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD BY C.J. (FA-08-0012-17,

 IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD BY C.J. (FA-08-0012-17, GLOUCESTER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) (A-2593-17T4)

In this appeal from a contested private adoption matter, the court reversed the termination of the biological mother's parental rights and vacated the judgment of adoption in favor of the child's stepmother. The court held the evidence did not support the finding that the biological mother had failed to affirmatively assume the duties of a parent, and found error in the trial court's reliance upon the biological mother's child support arrears as proof of intentional abandonment of financial obligations. Further, the court held the trial court impermissibly shifted the burden of proof, relied on hearsay, and erroneously imported the "best interest" standard applicable to Title 30 guardianship proceedings.